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Topic: Berries on the fence (Read 9632 times)

I was actually baffled that you would have to ask. In my state, those fruits and berries that come into your yard are considered a nuisance (although I do not find them so). You certainly have the right to prune them back in your yard, and if you are doing the work of pruning them back, you certainly can take the berries that are in your own yard. Heck, when the neighbors of my parents planted blackberries, those vines came through the fence, intertwined with other plants and eventually planted themselves on my parent's side as well. I am not going to prune something back and then offer up the "fruit" of my labor. If they want all the berries (which it doesn't sound like they do but apparently some people would), then they need to do the work on their side of keeping them out of the yard.

This has certainly been educational that some states or countries have very different laws about this though!

If I read this right, if you didn't pick these berries that are on your side of the fence, they would just rot on the vine, right?

If you didn't want the berries, what would you do? Cut the vines yourself right? Or tell the neighbor to do it?

My neighbor has an avocado tree that drops some of its fruit on my driveway. When that happens, well, I really have no choice but to pick up the fruit and do something with it. I don't want to drive over it. But I'm also not going to be in the business of gathering fallen fruit for them so I'm not going to turn it over to them. I dispose of them as I see fit.

I don't think you've done anything wrong as far as etiquette goes. I wonder if the neighbor realizes how many berries are actually getting produced on your side of the fence since she can't see it. She may not realize the overabundance you have been harvesting and may have thought that this was the first time you'd even ventured over to look at the crop.

As far as what to do with the extra berries, ummm... I dunno, send 'em to me? I l-o-v-e blackberries.

I dunno, I think this is one of those things that while it's not technically required to ask permission, it would be a nice and neighborly thing to do. I don't agree with the "my yard, my berries" thought, because you didn't buy the bush, you didn't plant the bush, you're not watering/fertilizing/etc. so no, it's not your blackberry bush. I guess I'm thinking a heads up to your neighbor that the bushes were growing through the fence and producing tons of berries would have been polite, because he may have wanted to prune them back if he realized that so much of the plant's productivity was happening on the other side of the fence.I think he was being very polite by giving you permission to enjoy the berries, and I'm not really sure why it rubbed you the wrong way. Maybe he was just telling you that in case you thought the berries were poisonous and hadn't been eating them, and he didn't want to see them wasted?

By all means, if you are making muffins, take some to nieghbor stating what you said in OP. " Neighbor, thank you so much for the berries! baby K and I love berries!" Thanking the neighbor isn't the same as asking permission. You stated that you tried to train the brambles to not poke through the fence, and this isn't the first year, so presumably neighbor knows that they poke through. Neighbor may have had guilty feelings of her own, feeling the bush may be obtrusive to YOU! it may be a win/win with neighbor feeling relief that you aren't upset...... (just something to think about)

I was outside last week picking more berries. My neighbour called through the fence and said "Hi, the berries are good for eating. Feel free to enjoy them."I brushed it off as awkward phrasing, but it sounded an awful lot like he was giving me permission to pick the berries that are on my side of the fence. I had to keep brushing it off every time I went out to pick the berries, but I was determined not to read too much into it.

This part confuses me as well (your reaction, that is) . . . I certainly hope that you gave a neighborly wave and said something like "I know! We've been enjoying them so much. Thank you for planting them!"

After all, if neighbor didn't plant the blackberries or if he took care to trim them so that they didn't grow into your yard, you wouldn't be enjoying the benefit.

True, they are on your side of the fence, so they are yours. I do not think you needed to ask permission at all. You could trim the bushes back, let the fruits rot (in which case it might have been an entirely different thread "Neighbors berries are overgrowing into my yard and I have to deal with the cleanup!") or enjoy them as you are.

When neighbor said "They are good for eating" maybe he thought you were doing some sort of clean-up and didn't know that you were actually using the berries.

Given how many berries you've got, and you've just got wee bits poking through your fence, you neighbours must have berries coming out the wazoo. I'll bet he doesn't even realise what you've got on your side of the fence and is inviting you to grab yourself a ladder and start picking over the fence. This would be the Canadian interpretation. The bushes on his side must be huge and he might not even be able to see the fence, never mind the fact the bushes are going beyond it and that you are more than amply provided with berries already.

I'd always heard that whatever popped into your yard was yours for the taking - whether that be berries or fruits of a tree. The argument being that you have all the hassle of clearing away the leaves in the autumn, the fallen fruits etc... so you should benefit from the harvest as well.

Of course this only goes for branches literally hanging inside your yard - which is what's happening in the OP - not for whatever you happen to be able to reach from within your yard

Great discussion, this is my take on this issue: reap and eat! Seriously, berries and mints are notorious for being invasive plantings--yummy, but measures have to be taken to prevent them from overrunning not just the property line but the entire neighborhood. Vining plantings such as beans may choke young saplings-so need to be cut back with a vengeance, etc. If the escapees are edible, eat 'em and enjoy. If not prune with no pity.

I'm not sure this applies, as I am not in the UK and this is not a tree.

In any case, I was wondering more about the etiquette surrounding the issue. If this were something like an apple or a pear tree, I wouldn't consider overhanging fruit to belong to me. It would only be mine, in my opinion if it fell from the tree into my yard. I'd definitely go over and ask to share the fruit from the branches that hung in my yard.

Should one, as a matter of politeness ask their neighbours permission to keep fruit that grows through the fence and onto their property? Should I offer them some of my jams or preserves? Take over a pie or some muffins?

Also, any ideas on what else I can do with blackberries that doesn't involve an abundance of sugar?

My mind is blown by the idea of anyone deliberately planting blackberries. Where I grew up, blackberries are everywhere growing wild and trying to take over the entire landscape. People are forever fighting a mostly losing battle to keep the brambles from taking over their entire properties, Audrey II-style. But I digress.

Same here. Kentucky is full of wild blackberries. The birds help plant new canes each year. I keep finding canes popping up in my flower garden, and there are no blackberry brambles in my subdivision, so the birds or squirrels must be the cause of the seeds showing up in my garden. My Mom has 3 acres and her property is overrun by blackberry brambles. It's a constant fight to stop them from spreading even more. When I was a kid, my friend and I would take two five gallon buckets and walk up and down Mom's fence, just filling those buckets with ripe berries.

Update. I sort of "met" the neighbours through the fence (though I realized later this evening that I forgot to pass along my name and didn't get hers).

As it turns out, Mr Neighbour was actually inviting me to please-for-the-love-of-deity take some of the berries on their side of the fence. They did not realize how many I have on my side.

Mrs Neighbour explicitly invited me to please help myself to some berries because she's also running out of things to do with them and people to give pies to. I let her know that I've been making muffins and jams, etc. I will pass on my previous idea of taking anything blackberry related over to them.

Update. I sort of "met" the neighbours through the fence (though I realized later this evening that I forgot to pass along my name and didn't get hers).

As it turns out, Mr Neighbour was actually inviting me to please-for-the-love-of-deity take some of the berries on their side of the fence. They did not realize how many I have on my side.

Mrs Neighbour explicitly invited me to please help myself to some berries because she's also running out of things to do with them and people to give pies to. I let her know that I've been making muffins and jams, etc. I will pass on my previous idea of taking anything blackberry related over to them.

You can make a great sauce for either chicken or white fish by taking blackberries, add vodka, salt, and pepper. Boil the berries in a little bit of vodka until they are well cooked, blend and add salt and pepper to taste - yummy

I miss the old uphill neighbors. They have/had apple and peach trees and every year since we moved here the husband would pick a big bucket or two of each and send them to us. They went into assisted living and the people who bought the place are renting it out.

The renters don't pick the fruit at all. It kills me to see the fruit rotting on those 50 year old apple trees (the peach is only about 20 years old). I wish I knew the owners so I could ask to pick some.

(I should ask DH if he knows them.. he knows just about everyone in town which is funny since I am the one who spent summers and even a year for school here decades ago.. and he only came here because I wanted to. Guess that is the peril of being an introvert. Good thing I am married to an extrovert who lets me be a recluse )

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"I feel sarcasm is the lowest form of wit." "It is so low, in fact, that Miss Manners feels sure you would not want to resort to it yourself, even in your own defense. We do not believe in retaliatory rudeness." Judith Martin

That's a great update! LOL that you were worried about picking the berries on YOUR side, and they wanted you to pick some on THEIR side!

I was in Michigan blueberry picking this weekend and saw some blueberry beef jerky. Hmmm.... There's an idea for you, substituting blackberries, of course, and assuming you have a dehydrator. I imagine it's just blueberry puree and hamburger mixed with the spices and squeezed through the jerky press. And if you do have a dehydrator, what about blackberry fruit roll-ups (fruit leather)?